17 Curiosity Killed The Cat

The outside of Grasshorn during the nights wasn't fairly quiet. The tavern was still open, it's lights were still on as I heard only some voices from it. It was pretty dark out here as well, the lamp lights were on, but most of the building didn't have their lights on anymore.

Me and Lilith were still looking for Derrick and Edward, so we decided to head down one of the roads to head deeper into the village. This road was next to the general shop and it led down to a large storage building, probably for the general store.

I wonder where these two were?

I felt like these two were going out on a secret mission, I mean why would they go out during the night.

"Kota, you think they might be in the tavern?" Lilith asked.

"Maybe. I honestly don't know what we're doing or even where we are going.." I was telling the truth. My curiosity really led us to doing nothing again. Just aimless walking, I was pretty certain that those two were actually doing something fun or mysterious. But it might end up that those two are having some fun in the tavern.

"Let's just head to the tavern, it's cold out here!" Lilith was shivering. It wasn't super cold, but it was cold enough to see our breaths a little bit.

"Alright, alright. We're going" I turned around from the large building and noticed that up the road we went down. I saw a small figure walking to the tavern.

Was that Mary? I don't remember seeing her at the reception desk.

Maybe she knows what those two were up to. Ooh, or maybe she is actually going to them!

"Lilith, I think I see Mary walking to the tavern. Let's follow in secret."

"Ooh! Yeah. Got it. Let's follow!"

We both quietly trailed Mary as she entered the tavern.

It feels weird playing along with this secret spying thing. It's like I'm playing a stealth operative.

"Hrngh, colonel…" I muttered to myself. A classic that fits this scenario.

"What'd you say? What's a colonel?"

"I-uh… don't worry about it. You must've heard something else." I quickly replied to Lilith, who looked at me in confusion.

Ok, stop being weird now. We don't need the embarrassment right now. Focus on what's happening.

Mary is inside the tavern and most likely, just possibly, Derrick and Edward are in there. If we went through the entrance, we'd be seen. Now normally, that's fine. They'd just assume we were still up and decided to join in. But since we were playing the sneaking game…

I looked to the right of the building and saw a particular stack of barrels that lined up against the wall. A perfect stack for two kids to use.

"Lilith, let's use those barrels. Maybe we can peek at what they're doing." I whispered to her. It wasn't even necessarily to whisper, but I've somehow gotten myself fully into this stealth thing. There is no turning back.

I sneaked towards the barrels as Lilith casually walked to it, somewhat amused and not.

As I climbed up the barrels, I heard some commotions on the inside. It must be some of the customers inside talking. Oh wait, I hear Mary as well! She sounds kinda stern though.

I got to the top barrel, though it was too short to reach the top of the window, we've hit a dead end. I'm too short for this!

"Can you see Kota?" Lilith asked from one of the lower barrels.

"No I can't, but…wanna get on my shoulders to see?" I asked. I should surely be able to hold her weight.

I think.

Lilith climbed on the same barrel as me as I bent forward slightly so she could climb my back. I felt her shoes scramble on my back before I felt her thighs roll up against my shoulder. And with all my might, I heaved myself to straighten up to give her a good look.

She struggled at first to balance herself, but she managed to steadied herself.

You know what wasn't steady? My heart rate as her thighs essentially was crushing my head. I felt like I was being choked. I kept tapping at her thighs to signal that maybe she was killing me right now, but she didn't respond.

Thinking of it now, she hasn't said anything since she looked inside.

"What do you see?" I struggled to say that, I feel like I'm about to pass out, what the hell is this girl's strength?

"…Derrick and Edward are inside…" she finally said, though it was a very quiet voice she used.

I Peered up and noticed something in her eyes and mouth. Her eyes were wide open and she was gritting her teeth. An expression of fear.

"Uh…Lilith? What are they doing?" I asked, worriedly. The whole stealth shenanigan I made has now fallen. Something is wrong.

"Mary is there, but there is a man in a chair…" she cupped her left hand in her mouth as if surprised.

Man in a chair? Edward and Derrick are there with mary…

"He's tied up and beaten badly." when she said that, she gasped immediately after.

"Derrick is beating him!" She blurted at me, She peered down with fear in her eyes.

Oh. Oh dear.

I feel a weird tingle in my stomach now, something that was telling me that I should've stayed in our rooms. Is Derrick and Edward actually doing a secret task for mary? I mean, I wouldn't really drop that idea. It could easily be a way for Derrick and Edward to be able to have two rooms.I don't remember Derrick giving Mary money at the reception desk.

Yeah, This idea might be plausible, Except that I don't really see the point of doing someone's dirty work when you are supposed to be taking care of two kids. What if they find out about what you do?

Like right now?

Well, maybe we should give them a visit? We come in that tavern, look all surprised and act like we just witness a murder. Make them feel guilty, and then maybe we'll just be on our way to Prusha.

"Lilith, listen to me." I said through her thighs. Maybe I should get her opinion on this.

"Let's just walk in and present ourselves."

"Why would we do that?" she frowned when I said. Not good.

"Because…" Hm. Maybe my logic doesn't apply to hers.

"I mean, they know we're here now.." she trailed that one for a bit..

Wait, they know? Oh shit

It was then, the front door of the tavern opened and I saw Derrick run out, Sunglasses still on.

"OY. KOTA. What are you doing with Lilith around your neck? Are you spying on us?" He roared.

We went from caution to Alert! Even worse! Shit, they must've seen Lilith peeking through the window!

"Uh, we-uh we were playing investigation?" I answered confusingly

Lilith jumped off me. but once she did, We both lost our balance on the barrels and plummeted down.

Derrick watched as we recovered from our fall. Somehow one of the barrel lids had fallen onto my head. I had no plans of taking this off.

"Now, what are you two doing? It's late and you guys need to wake up in the morning early so we can get to Prusha faster!"

"...We saw you two leave the inn and we got curious." Lilith answered for me, she had gotten back up from her fall and she gave Derrick a face that could quite literally persuade anyone.

And that it did, Derrick rubbed his head and mumbled something before looking back at us.

"Ugh, damn these kids. You two really wanna know what we're up to?" He offered.

He was being serious here, Unlike from his normal bombastic attitude he has. I can see under those sunglasses that he had stern eyes.

"We are…curious." I tipped the barrel lid so that it'd cover my face. I'm starting to regret every decision we made on this sneaking mission.

"Hmph, fine. Come on. Get in the tavern." Derrick turned around and headed back in the tavern, not even waiting for us to respond to it.

I looked at Lilith, who was looking back at me with a worried face. She must be thinking the same thing as me. I'm actually kind of afraid of what they're going to show us.

Soon we entered the tavern. No one was actually inside the tavern right now, it seemed like everyone was suddenly pulled out of the tavern.

Inside the tavern, There were multiple tables that lined the side walls and middle. There was a pillar in the middle of the building that held a bear's head on the top of it. In the back of the building, there was the bar. No one was there, but drinks and such were stocked well. And right in front of the pillar was a man who was tied up. He had a bag on his face, But his clothes were splattered with blood and other liquids. Derrick stood on the man's right and Edward was on the left of him. Mary was standing in front of him with another man.

This man was tall and muscled. He had no hair, but there was a gray beard that he had. He wore an apron over his black shirt he was wearing.

Once they heard us enter the door, Mary turned around and gave us a frown.

"Derrick, why are the kids here? Do they want to see us beat this man?" She asked.

"The kids were curious, I thought maybe it'd be best to show them how we work now." Derrick shrugged when he answered.

"Hmph, you're gonna show them why you took up this job instead of really paying me?" Mary snorted in disgust.

"Better to do what I do best, than pay for a night, HAH."

What the hell is happening? Is this like some casual thing Derrick does? I thought he was just a dude who basically fixed my dad's stuff on their adventures?

The man in the chair gave out a muffled scream. I guess hearing the kids had shown up had woken him up.

The man standing next to Mary gave the man a good punch to his stomach. Hearing that man gurgle made me wince.

"Now now, Mr.Verdith. Don't let the kids here distract you from the fact that you owe us some money." He spoke in a low voice, sounded like his voice went through hell and back. It was rough and scratchy.

"Yeah, Mr. Padook doesn't like it when those who come in don't pay and try to leave. You wouldn't want to get our…Two men on the job to repeat what they did, do you?" Mary added.

Did Mary ask Derrick and Edward to beat the shit out of this guy? For a night in the inn?

What the fuck?

I looked at Lilith, who gave them a concerned look, but it also looked like she was interested?

Look I've seen action movies in my past life, I've seen those interrogation scenes they do. Never wanted to see one in person.

But here I am! Looking at one. Or something similar to it!

I dragged myself into this, might as well watch…I wont be sleeping tonight.

The man in the Chair gave out even more muffled noises, they sounded like he was begging.

"Boys, give him another round." Paddock said, waving his hand to entice them.

Edward gave a shrug and gave the man a kick to his face. As he did that, Derrick casually pulled out his hammer, humming to himself as he swung right at the man's right leg.

I could hear a snap when it made contact, and that made me wince just from hearing it. Lilith held her Cloak's hood tightly, keeping her eyes on the now broken leg the man had.

This is truly a…Change of pace that could've been easily avoided if we just stayed in the damn ROOM.

The man in the chair screamed in pain, I could see that his bag was darkening with blood. But it didn't stop there as Edward came in with a punch to his stomach, trading hits with derrick as he rhythmically timed his punches with his. After a couple of punches were traded, They stopped and slowly went back to their original spots.

Derrick gave me a look along with Edward, It was that kind of look that said "Happy?".

I was not happy, neither was Lilith who had her hoodie over her face now. For a Eleven year old and a twelve year old going on a trip to a kingdom to study. This was not on our list of what we'd like to see on the trip.

"Ok, Mr.Verdith…now that the boys have given you a "talk" again. Would you like to pay up? Or would you want these kids who are watching to witness unspeakable things." Mr Padook looked at us and waved before turning back to the man, who kept repeating in a muffled voice "okay!".

"Ok, the man is going to pay! Good job, you two!" Mary clapped as she said that. She didn't even seem at all disgusted or upset about all this, she must see this shit go down every time.

Mary then turned to me and Lilith and pointed at us.

"Now, you two. Did you enjoy watching that? Hm? No? Well that's on you. Sneaking on adults, this is the job we got to do!" She snapped at us, Lilith winced at that while I gave her a frown.

This place is a cruel place when I think about it. If anything, this kind of stuff is probably happening around Zenith. Maybe even worse. We've just got our first hand on this kind of stuff.

"Now, run along you two! Get back to your room and let Derrick and Edward clean up! I'm sure you guys have had your fill on what they're up to." Mary used her hands to shoo us away, looking back at Derrick who was casually cleaning his hammer.

Yeah, I didn't really want to stick around when they have to clean, I've had my fill. And looking at Lilith, she did too. So I grabbed her hand and went out the tavern's door.

When we got outside, Lilith stumbled and sank to her knees. It almost looked like she wanted to throw up.

I could say the same to myself, seeing someone have their leg cracked open wasn't something I wanted to see. Imagining it now makes me want to barf…

"Hey Lilith, Are you ok?" I asked.

Lilith looked disgusted as she steadied her breath. Her hands were shaking as she looked at them.

"I-uh, I don't know… why-why were they doing that?" Her voice was breaking, it sounded like she was on the verge of crying.

Even though I'm eighteen mentally, this was something that none of us should've seen. A man being interrogated and beaten while our two escorts were the ones giving the beating, adding in the fact that it was brutal. This would prove brutal for someone at such a young age. No, at any age in this matter. I'm only holding up because in my old world, I feel that my old hobbies of playing such violent games have diluted my own sense of what's right or wrong. Here in this world, I would say most likely this was always going to happen. People are going to get killed and hurt. Not to say that it didn't happen in my old world, but here, it just seemed more brutal and quite possibly a norm here. I don't think any of Lilith's parents have really told her about how the world operates. Neither did Gerald and Synthia, But I already knew beforehand how people can be cruel.

C'mon Travis, answer her question!

I walked over to her and patted her head. It's probably best to give her a reality check right here.

"Lilith, listen to me. I know what we saw was something that shouldn't happen. But…They took up that job willingly, they knew what they were doing. Derrick and Edward are adventurers, So they most likely see this stuff everyday and even partake in them. That I'm not sure about, but rest assured that they are on our side when it comes to that matter. Don't believe that everything outside our village is going to play out as if everyone is going to be friendly. I believe sooner or later…" I hesitated at saying the last few words. Seeing as even I couldn't beat to acknowledge it.

"We'll need to kill someone. And if you want to kill your dad…it'll probably be worse." finally said.

Lilith's hands stopped shaking and she looked at me with teary eyes. A girl who has asked me to help her kill her father, couldn't even bear to look at someone being beaten. I wonder what She even thought of when asking to kill him? Maybe she didn't expect it to be brutal, just a simple fight where he just dies from a quick blow.

"I-I…I understand…."

"I think you get the idea…do you still want to kill your dad?" I looked at her as she clenched my hand.

There was a hesitation, perhaps she wanted to re-evaluate her decision. She looked down Before looking up with a determined face.

She still wants to kill him. I could see that left eye flickering with that red color. There's a rage inside her, fueling her.

"I see…well.." As much I don't want to see anyone die, I'd be dumb to not realize that everyone in this world would not resort to talking it out. At some point, I'm probably going to have to resort to fighting for my life. I'm going to have to kill someone…that I was really ready for it.

"I'll be by your side when it comes to that." I've said this before, back when we were in Shanford in my room. The first time she asked me if I could help her.

My Decision still stands, Even more now that my intentions of not killing have dwindled. I'll help her kill her dad.

Lilith let go of my hand and wiped away the tears from her eyes before giving me a smile.

"Thank you!" she walked back to the inn on her own, leaving me in the middle of the road.

I looked back at the tavern and pondered.

I wonder if Gerald or Synthia have killed someone? I wonder how they'd give me this talk?

I shook my head, I shouldn't let this stay in my mind. We need to sleep, and get the Prusha.

So I headed back into the inn, went up the stairs to our room. When I entered the room, I saw that Lilith had fallen asleep, face first into her bed. She still had her cloak on, but she took off her shoes. Good manners.

I sighed as I walked to my bed, taking off my cloak along the way, and placing my staff on the table.

It's only been one day, and somehow this trip took a dark turn. I hope the rest of this trip isn't like this.

I jumped right into the bed, and slowly drifted to sleep. I could hear the next door open and close. Those two must've come back.

This'll be an awkward trip if we don't talk with those two. I'll figure it out when I wake up.